Dagyum Ji is a senior NK News correspondent

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Dagyum Ji

Dagyum Ji is a senior NK News correspondent based in Seoul. She previously worked for Reuters TV.

NEWS24 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Multilateral talks with North Korea “not planned”: Russian deputy FM

Russia's deputy foreign minister on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of multilateral talks with North Korea, saying they were "not planned to be held in the near future.” “We continue to put our efforts to settle down the situation on the Korean peninsula in bilateral contact with major negotiating participants,” the state-owned TASS and RIA news agency quoted Igor Morgulov as having sai...


NEWS24 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

U.S., South Korea, Japan staging missile warning exercises near Korean peninsula

The U.S., South Korean, and Japanese militaries on Tuesday began a two-day missile warning exercise near the Korean peninsula, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced. “This training is designed to prepare for North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats according to the agreement results of the 48th ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) held in October 2016,” the JCS ...


NEWS23 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Seoul investigating North Korean defector couple missing in China: MOU

The South Korean government is investigating the whereabouts of a North Korean defector couple who have disappeared in China, Seoul's Ministry of Unification (MOU) confirmed on Monday. In a response to reports by South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun on Sunday that two defectors had voluntarily returned to the North, ministry spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun said he could not confirm the redefection. ...


NEWS20 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Seoul has “no right” to send businessmen to KIC: N. Korean media

The South Korean government will not be able to bring a delegation of South Korean businessmen to the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), a North Korean state media outlet said on Friday. The article, published by the website Uriminzokkiri, condemned recent attempts by the South to investigate claims that property at the complex had been expropriated by the North. “The South Korean authorit...


NEWS19 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

North Korean media says superpowers “sponging off” the U.S.

North Korean state media on Thursday accused "superpowers," likely a reference to China and Russia, of “sponging off” the U.S. in their coordination with Washington on the DPRK nuclear issue. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and the country's most widely read newspaper, said that the U.S. has been “compelling and mobilizing large and small countrie...


NEWS18 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

South Korea considering new unilateral sanctions on North Korea: vice FM

Seoul is considering imposing further unilateral sanctions on North Korea, South Korea's first vice foreign minister said on Wednesday. Emphasizing that the Moon Jae-in administration believes that “faithful implementation” of UN Security Council resolutions against the DPRK is “crucial," Lim Sung-nam said that further measures "can be reviewed." “Our government is continuously cons...


NEWS17 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

U.S. not ruling out possibility of direct talks with North Korea: Sullivan

Washington will not exclude the possibility of holding direct talks with Pyongyang, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said on Tuesday. “Eventually, we don’t rule out the possibility of course of direct talks,” Sullivan told press, in comments carried by AP and Reuters, after talks with Japan's vice foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama in Tokyo. “Our focus is on dipl...


NEWS17 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Air Koryo now providing domestic travel packages for Chinese tourists: sources

North Korean national airline Air Koryo is now offering a range of tourism products aimed at Chinese tourists, NK News learned this week. Two sources - who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of talking to the media while working in-country - confirmed that the company is now involved in the tourism industry. A photograph provided to NK News shows a woman wearing an Air Kor...


NEWS16 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

South Korea, U.S. to develop new joint wartime operational plans: JCS

Seoul and Washington are in the process of devising a new wartime operational plan, the chairman of the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Monday, amid reports that the current plans had been obtained by DPRK-linked hackers. “We are drawing up a new operational plan while re-estimating overall conditions, including our capabilities in accordance with North Korea’s new advanced threats,...


NEWS16 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Violent pro-North Korean leaflet threatens “crazy dog” Trump with decapitation

More pro-North Korean leaflets, potentially sent by the DPRK via balloon, were found in South Korea's capital on Sunday and Monday, describing U.S. President Donald Trump as a “crazy dog" and calling for his dismemberment. The cartoons come amid a flurry of pro-North leaflets appearing in Seoul in recent weeks. Found on Mount Bukhan in northern Seoul on Monday, one leaflet calls the Presid...


NEWS13 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

U.S. aircraft carrier, ROK navy to stage drills off Korean peninsula

The U.S. and South Korean navies will conduct joint maritime training next week with the participation of the USS Ronald Reagan nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) announced on Friday. Washington and Seoul will stage a combined Maritime Counter Special Operation Force (MCSOF) exercise, as well as a drill with U.S. Navy carrier strike groups (CSG), in waters off t...


NEWS13 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

North Korea seeking investment for new Mt. Kumgang area hotel project

North Korea is seeking investment for a new hotel construction project in the Wonsan-Mount Kumgang International Tourist Zone, according to a proposal released this week. The guide for what will be called “Naekumgang Hotel” was released on Monday, with information on the “total planning of developing Mt. Kumgang International Tourism Special Zone.” The hotel will be established in Na...


NEWS12 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Former defector back in North Korea describes “painful” life in the South

A North Korean defector who recently returned to the DPRK appeared in a video released by the state-run Uriminzokkiri on Thursday, describing her "painful" life for six years in the South. In the video, 60-year-old Ju Ok Soon says she entered North Korea via China after leaving the South in July, but does not say when she first defected. A spokesperson for South Korea's Ministry of Unificati...


NEWS12 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

ROK defense minister calls for “thorough” response to DPRK-linked hacking

South Korea's defense minister has ordered the ROK military to develop new measures to prevent hacking by North Korean entities, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Thursday. The order by Song Young-moo comes after claims by ruling party lawmaker Rhee Cheol-hee that an attack by DPRK-linked hackers last year had allowed the North to obtain classified military documents, including op...


NEWS10 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Two B-1B Lancer bombers fly over Korean peninsula in show of force

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew over the Korean peninsula in a show of force on Tuesday night, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Wednesday. The JCS said two F-15K fighter jets of the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) and two U.S. B-1B strategic bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and staged a joint training exercise. “The formation of the U...


NEWS10 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI


North Korean bank offering prize lottery for VIP customers: brochure

A North Korean joint bank is offering a prize lottery draw and organized domestic tours for its wealthiest clients, a brochure obtained by NK Pro has shown. The Jinmyong Joint Bank provides saving services in foreign currency to DPRK citizens, overseas North Koreans, and foreigners with “overseas accounts in China, Russia, and Singapore’s prestigious credit banks." The bank was establi...


NEWS09 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI


Blacklisted DPRK bank running company selling, producing precious metals

A North Korean investment company run by the internationally blacklisted Korea Daesong Bank is manufacturing and selling precious metal-based products, photos from a recent trade fair in the country’s capital have shown. The Chosun Credit Investment Company (조선신용투자회사) was seen selling rings, necklaces and pendants made from what it claims to be 99.99% pure gold at the 13th Py...


NEWS06 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

New anti-U.S., pro-North Korean leaflets appear in central Seoul

Propaganda leaflets potentially sent by balloon from North Korea have been found in South Korea's capital, photos provided to NK News this week showed. The pro-North leaflets, which attack the Trump administration and current U.S. policy towards the DPRK, were spotted on Mount Bukhan in northern Seoul between Tuesday and Thursday. Many of the leaflets also show off Pyongyang’s military c...


NEWS06 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Kaesong complex to be “more vigorously operated”: North Korean state media

North Korean state-run outlets Uriminzokkiri and Arirang-Meari claimed on Friday that the factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) will be "more vigorously operated" in the future. The editorials come in response to a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report on Monday claiming that Pyongyang has been running secret garment factories at the formerly inter-Korean industrial zone. The North downpla...


NEWS05 OCTOBER
BY DAGYUM JI

Seoul seeking partners for plan to overhaul DPRK judiciary after unification

South Korea's Supreme Court is seeking a private sector partner for research into best practice on the reform of former North Korean legal professionals after the unification of the peninsula. South Korea's highest legal body said the reintegration of North Korean lawyers and judges into the post-unification Korea would have to be preceded by an investigation into “the record of their cooper...